Reversing a months-long decline in his lead in the Connecticut U.S. Senate race, Democratic
State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has opened up a 54 - 43 percent likely voter lead
over Republican former wrestling executive Linda McMahon, according to a Quinnipiac
University poll released today.

This compares to a 49 - 46 percent Blumenthal lead in a September 28 likely voter
survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll.

In today's survey, 3 percent are undecided and 7 percent of voters who name a
candidate say they could change their mind by Election Day. Blumenthal leads 95 -4 percent
among Democrats while McMahon leads 87 - 12 percent among Republicans.

"After Linda McMahon had climbed to within 3 points of Attorney General Richard
Blumenthal, he has stopped her momentum and increased his lead by 8 points in two weeks.
While September wasn't very good for Blumenthal, perhaps like Reggie Jackson, he could be
called 'Mr. October,'" said Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz, PhD.

"Fueled by a surge in support from women, Democrats and independents, Attorney
General Richard Blumenthal has his best poll numbers since the start of the fall campaign."

"Linda McMahon may have peaked too soon and her advertising saturation could be
causing 'McMahon fatigue.'"

"Blumenthal is running stronger among Democrats than McMahon is running among
Republicans. He is winning women by an overwhelming 31-point margin, while McMahon has
struggled with women throughout the campaign. They have a negative image of her but like him
by more than 2-1," Dr. Schwartz added.

"With only three weeks left in the campaign, McMahon is down by 11 points with only 3
percent undecided. Even if she won all the undecided, she still would fall short. This has been a
very unusual election year, however, so anything is possible."

Likely voters approve 69 - 26 percent of the job Blumenthal is doing as attorney
general and say 57 - 38 percent they have a favorable opinion of him.

McMahon gets a split 46 - 46 percent favorability.

First Lady Michelle Obama gets a 56 - 28 percent favorability rating, but only 5
percent of Connecticut likely voters say her campaigning for Blumenthal makes them more
likely to vote for him. Another 19 percent say they are less likely and 76 percent say Michelle
Obama's involvement won't affect their vote.

From October 7 - 11, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,119 Connecticut likely voters
with a margin of error of +/- 2.9 percentage points.

The Quinnipiac University Poll conducts public opinion surveys in New York, New
Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and the nation as a public service and for
research.
For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-
5201, or follow us on Twitter.

4. If the election for United States Senator were being held today, and the
candidates were Richard Blumenthal the Democrat and Linda McMahon the
Republican, for whom would you vote? (If undecided) If you had to choose today,
would you vote for Blumenthal or McMahon? (This table includes Leaners)

TREND: If the election for United States Senator were being held today, and the
candidates were Richard Blumenthal the Democrat and Linda McMahon the
Republican, for whom would you vote? (If undecided) If you had to choose today
would you vote for Blumenthal or McMahon? (This table includes Leaners)